DARK HORSE COMICS WILL PUBLISH THE FINAL
GRAPHIC NOVEL WRITTEN BY ANTHONY BOURDAIN

Anthony Bourdain’s Hungry Ghosts reunites the bestselling writer, chef, and award-winning television host with accomplished co-writer Joel Rose, his friend and longtime collaborator, for a series of horror stories inspired by the popular Japanese Edo period parlour game of Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai. The graphic novel substitutes chefs in place of the traditional samurai, and transforms the classic stories of yokai, yorei, and obake by adding a common thread: food is central to each bone-chilling tale. On a dark, eerie night a Russian oligarch dares a circle of international chefs to play the Samurai game of 100 Candles—where each storyteller blows out a candle after telling a terrifying tale of ghosts, demons and unspeakable beings, praying to survive the challenge.

The full color, hardcover book goes on sale in comic book shops and bookstores on October 2, 2018 and features:

Five all-new original recipes prepared by Bourdain;

An extended dedication and beautiful send off to Bourdain written by Rose;

The Real Ghosts, a handy guide to the legendary spirits behind the terrifying tales, written by Rose, with illustrations by Leonardo Manco;

A reunion for Bourdain and Rose with legendary comic book editor Karen Berger — the editor of Dark Horse Comics’ imprint Berger Books and recent inductee into the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Hall of Fame — who was the founding editor of Vertigo Comics, which published Bourdain and Rose’s graphic novel debut, the New York Times #1 bestseller, Get Jiro!

Anthony Bourdain’s Hungry Ghosts is a celebration of culinary creativity and the power of storytelling. Like Bourdain and his writing, the stories bring together different traditions to create something unexpected, bold, and occasionally shocking. Bourdain rejected the label of celebrity chef and the publication of this book is an opportunity to reflect not only on Bourdain’s impact on culture, but his literary legacy.

As Karen Rinaldi, Publisher of Harper Wave, Bourdain’s prose editor, publisher of Kitchen Confidential, and wife of Joel Rose explained, “First and foremost, Bourdain was a writer. Besides spending two decades writing and creating for television, Bourdain penned 14 books and had other works in progress when he died; he took storytelling seriously. Stories are how we connect and, in a world where real connection seems to be losing ground, Bourdain was there to help others claw their way back up. His gift was to connect cultures and people by finding what there was to honor, to share, and to be grateful for, even in the most tenuous of circumstances or in the least expected places.”

“It remains a great privilege to publish Anthony Bourdain,” said Karen Berger. “Tony grew up a huge fan of R. Crumb and the horror stories of EC Comics and for a time, he wanted to be a comic book artist. But Tony loved co-writing comics with Joel and collaborating with the artists. It’s heartbreaking that we lost Tony, but I’ll always treasure my memories of his irreverent spirit, generosity, and his passion for comics and art.”

Portrait of Anthony Bourdain by Francesco Francavilla

We hope you’ll celebrate Anthony Bourdain, and his love of story and food, by devouring this book.

About the Writers:

Anthony Bourdain was a veteran chef and author of both non-fiction and fiction: the New York Times bestselling Kitchen Confidential and Medium Raw; A Cook’s Tour; the collection The Nasty Bits; the novels Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo; the biography Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical; two graphic novels, Get Jiro! and Get Jiro!: Blood and Sushi and his latest New York Times bestselling cookbook Appetites. He has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Times of London, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Vanity Fair, Lucky Peach and many other publications. In 2013, Bourdain launched his own publishing line with Ecco, Anthony Bourdain Books, an imprint of Harper Collins. His first food and travel show was A Cook’s Tour on the Food Network, followed by No Reservations and The Layover on the Travel Channel. In 2013, he joined CNN as a producer, writer and host of the globe travelling show Parts Unknown which received the Peabody Award and eleven Emmy Awards. Bourdain received a posthumous Emmy Award for his non-fiction writing for Parts Unknown.

Somewhat notoriously, he established himself as a professional gadfly, bête noir, advocate, social critic, and pork enthusiast, recognized for his caustic sense of humor worldwide. He was as unsparing of those things he hated, as he was evangelical about his passions.

Joel Rose is the author of the novels Kill the Poor, Kill Kill Faster Faster, and The Blackest Bird. Kill Kill Faster Faster and Kill the Poor were both made into feature films. Other writing includes: New York Sawed in Half and the bestselling graphic novel Get Jiro!, co-written with Anthony Bourdain. Joel also was co-founder and editor of the legendary and influential 1980s Lower East Side literary magazine Between C and D. http://www.joelrosebooks.com

About Dark Horse:

For more than thirty years, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, the company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent, such as Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Geof Darrow, Brian Wood, Gail Simone, Stan Sakai, and Guillermo del Toro, and comics legends, such as Will Eisner, Milo Manara, Kazuo Koike, Neil Gaiman, and Frank Miller, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, such as The Mask, Ghost, X, and Barb Wire. Its successful line of comics, manga, and products based on popular properties includes Dragon Age, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Tomb Raider, Halo, The Witcher,Serenity, Game of Thrones, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Today, Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading entertainment publishers.

About Berger Books

Karen Berger, founding editor of Vertigo Comics

Karen Berger has been a powerful force in the comics industry for over 25 years. Beginning her career at DC Comics, her interest in horror led to her becoming instrumental in nurturing Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing and later bringing Neil Gaiman’s work to mass audiences with his seminal series The Sandman. With the success of these titles, mixed with her unique vision, eye for the unusual, and willingness to push the envelope, Karen Berger became the founding editor of DC’s mature-reader imprint Vertigo in 1993. She earned critical acclaim and popular success in her 20 years heading Vertigo with legendary titles such as Fables, Hellblazer, The Invisibles, 100 Bullets, Preacher, and V for Vendetta. After stepping down from Vertigo in 2012, Karen Berger joined forces with Dark Horse Comics in 2017 to launch her new imprint Berger Books with top talent such as Anthony Bourdain, Ann Nocenti, David Aja, Dave Gibbons, Mat Johnson, Warren Pleece, Paul Pope, and Joel Rose. Berger Books launched in 2018 with inaugural titles Hungry Ghosts, Incognegro: Renaissance, Mata Hari, The Seeds, and The Originals: Expanded Edition.

Jason Bennett is PopCultHQ's chief editor, a contributing writer, and comic book reviewer/reporter. One with the Force. Browncoats Unite! So say we all!
Follow Jason on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram: @TahoeJBennett

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